It's "The Hub of Hockey" vs. "The State of Hockey" as the Minnesota Wild are in town for a 7:00 PM ET skate with the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.
The Wild enter their only match-up of the season with the B's in third place in the Northwest Division with a record of 19-15-5. Minnesota is riding a two-game win streak after a 2-1 road win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.
Defenseman Brent Burns leads the Wild in goals with 12 tallies on the seaon, while right winger Cal Clutterbuck is right behind Burns with 11 markers.
Wild Goaltenders:
Injury Report:
Notes:
- Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom has been dealing with a knee ailment. Jose Theodore has had the last two starts for the Wild.
- The Wild practiced at Harvard on Wednesday in preparation for tonight's game.
- Minnesota native Blake Wheeler admits that he was never much of a Minnesota Wild fan. I'm guessing he liked them more than the Coyotes, though.
- Will Claude stick with Tuukka Rask or go back to Tim Thomas, who has appeared in 8 of the last 9 games? I say you give Rask another start. It will give him a rare chance to get back-to-back starts and give Thomas an extra day of rest before facing Montreal and Pittsburgh.
- This will be Chuck Kobasew first trip back to Boston as a member of the Minnesota Wild. Chucky has 7 points (6-1-7...ironically) in 25 games this season.
- Tonight's game airs on NESN and 98.5 FM The Sports Hub. Puck drop is shortly after 7:00 PM ET.
- Public Skate open thread gets fired up at 6:30 PM ET.
- For more on tonight's game, venture into Hockey Wilderness